Founded in 1925, the Indiana Law Journal is a general-interest academic legal journal. The first issue was published in June 1925. Initially the Journal was published nine times a year, monthly from October through June. Originally, the Indiana Law Journal was a cooperative effort between the Law School and the Indiana State Bar Association. The end of World War II brought an influx of students to the Law School and by July 1, 1948 the University took over the Journal in its entirety.

From the outset of the Journal, the students on the board of editors were elected to their posts by a vote of the faculty with grades as the primary criteria. The 1939-1940 student board of editors established for the first time a competitive method to select the second-year associates. Twelve second-year students, chosen by the faculty, were asked to write notes. A committee was appointed to judge each note on the basis of quality of the note and degree of interest and willingness shown by the student to do journal work. Seven students were selected in the competition to serve on the board.

The Indiana Law Journal has published articles from a wide variety of scholars. Some of the notable individuals that have published in the Journal include Chief Justice Fred Vinson, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Justice Hugo Black, Archibald Cox, Laurence Tribe, John Hart Ely, Leon Green, Martha Minow, Frank I. Michelman, William N. Eskridge, Jr., Cass Sunstein, Richard Posner, Seth P. Waxman and Robert H. Bork.

In 1971 Robert H. Bork, then-Professor of Law at the Yale Law School, delivered a lecture as part of the Harris Lecture Series. The article that grew out of that speech, Neutral Principles and Some First Amendment Problems, has been called "[o]ne of the most intelligently provocative law journal articles of its time," and became a primary "exhibit" during the controversy in the 1987 Bork nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. It continues to be one of the most widely cited articles ever written, and Bork himself has said that the article, and its subsequent use at the nomination hearings, may have altered forever the way authors and readers view academic writing.

Today, the Indiana Law Journal is published quarterly by students of the Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington. The process of becoming a member of the Journal is open to all students at the end of their first-year. Members are selected in one of two ways. First, students in the top of their class academically are automatically invited to become a member. Second, a blind-graded writing competition is held in which a few students are then invited to join. This competition tests a student's bluebook skills and legal writing ability. Overall, approximately thirty-five offers are extended. Candidates who accept their offer make a two-year commitment to the Journal.

For a detailed history of the Indiana Law Journal please refer to the article published in Volume 75, Issue 1 commemorating the Journal's seventy-fifth anniversary.